Mobile work station for transporting a plurality of articles

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for transporting a plurality of articles is disclosed. The apparatus includes a wheeled chassis, and a platform disposed on the wheeled chassis. The apparatus also includes a manipulator coupled to the wheeled chassis and operably configured to load a first article of the plurality of articles at a first position on the platform, or unload the first article of the plurality of articles from the first position on the platform. The apparatus further includes at least one actuator operably configured to cause successive relative rotational movements between the manipulator and the platform to provide access to successive rotationally spaced apart positions on the platform for loading or unloading each subsequent article in the plurality of articles.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patentapplication 62/383,747 entitled “MULTIFUNCTIONAL UNMANNED GROUNDVEHICLE”, filed on Sep. 6, 2016 and incorporated herein by reference inits entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

This disclosure relates generally to transporting articles and moreparticularly to a robotic mobile work station for transporting andperforming operations on a plurality of articles.

2. Description of Related Art

Robotic vehicles may be configured for autonomous or semi-autonomousoperation for a wide range of applications including producttransportation, material handling, security, and military missions.

Autonomous mobile robotic vehicles typically have the ability tonavigate and to detect objects automatically and may be used alongsidehuman workers, thereby potentially reducing the cost and time requiredto complete otherwise inefficient operations such as basic labor,transportation and maintenance.

Some autonomous vehicles track movement of driven wheels of the vehicleusing encoders to determine a position of the vehicle within aworkspace.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one disclosed aspect there is provided an apparatusfor transporting a plurality of articles. The apparatus includes awheeled chassis, and a platform disposed on the wheeled chassis. Theapparatus also includes a manipulator coupled to the wheeled chassis andoperably configured to load a first article of the plurality of articlesat a first position on the platform, or unload the first article of theplurality of articles from the first position on the platform. Theapparatus further includes at least one actuator operably configured tocause successive relative rotational movements between the manipulatorand the platform to provide access to successive rotationally spacedapart positions on the platform for loading or unloading each subsequentarticle in the plurality of articles.

The at least one actuator may be operably configured to cause one of arotary movement of the platform about the wheeled chassis and a rotarymovement of the manipulator about the wheeled chassis.

The manipulator may be coupled to base rotatable with respect to thewheeled chassis and the at least one actuator may include a baseactuator operably configured to cause rotary movement of the base andthe manipulator about the wheeled chassis, a platform actuator operablyconfigured to cause rotary movement of the platform about the wheeledchassis, the base actuator and the platform actuator being operable tocause successive relative rotational movements of both the manipulatorand the platform about the wheeled chassis for providing access forloading or unloading each subsequent article in the plurality ofarticles.

The manipulator may be coupled to the wheeled chassis via a support andthe base actuator may be operably configured to cause rotary movement ofthe support about the wheeled chassis.

The wheeled chassis may include at least one drive for driving wheels ofthe wheeled chassis and may further include a controller operablyconfigured to cause the at least one drive to orient the wheeled chassisfor movement in a direction aligned to pick up or place the plurality ofarticles in a line, cause the base actuator to cause rotary movement ofthe manipulator about the wheeled chassis to orient the manipulator forloading or unloading the plurality of articles, and cause the platformactuator to cause rotary movement of the platform to after loading eacharticle, dispose an empty location on the platform in reach of themanipulator for loading a subsequent article, or dispose a subsequentarticle on the platform in reach of the manipulator for unloading.

The wheeled chassis may include a drive for driving at least one wheelof the wheeled chassis and may further include a controller operablyconfigured to control the drive to orient the wheeled chassis to alignthe manipulator for loading or unloading each of the first article andthe subsequent articles.

The manipulator may include a pair of outwardly directed spaced apartarms operably configured to grasp the article, an arm actuator, operablyconfigured to vertically rotate the arms toward the platform while thearticle is suspended between the arms, and an end effector distallydisposed on each respective arm and the end effectors may be operablyconfigured to grasp the article and suspend the article during verticalmovement of the arms.

The arms may be mounted for vertical rotation on a driven shaft and theend effectors may be coupled to the shaft via a belt such that rotationof the arms causes a respective rotation of the end effectors formaintaining an orientation of the end effectors while grasping thearticle.

The pair of outwardly directed spaced apart arms may be mounted for oneof lateral movement and rotational movement about a pivot to cause thepair of end effectors to move to grasp or release the article.

The apparatus may include at least one tool operably configured toperform an operation on the articles while transporting the plurality ofarticles on the wheeled chassis.

The at least one tool may be coupled to the manipulator such thatcausing rotary movement between the manipulator and the platformprovides access to each article for performing the operation.

The manipulator and the at least one tool may be respectively coupled toa common base mounted for rotation on the wheeled chassis such thatrotary movement of the common base causes rotary movement of each of themanipulator and the at least one tool.

The at least one tool may be coupled to the wheeled chassis such thatcausing rotary movement between the wheeled chassis and the platformprovides access to each article for performing the operation.

In accordance with another disclosed aspect there is provided a methodof transporting a plurality of articles on a wheeled chassis. The methodinvolves causing a manipulator coupled to the wheeled chassis to load afirst article of the plurality of articles at a first position on aplatform disposed on the wheeled chassis, or unload the first article ofthe plurality of articles from the first position on the platform. Themethod also involves causing successive relative rotational movementsbetween the manipulator and the platform to provide access to successiverotationally spaced apart positions on the platform, and causing themanipulator to load or unload each subsequent article of the pluralityof articles to or from the successive rotationally spaced apartpositions on the platform.

Causing successive relative rotational movements may involve one ofcausing rotary movement of the platform about the wheeled chassis andcausing rotary movement of the manipulator about the wheeled chassis.

Causing successive relative rotational movements may involve causingrotary movement of both the manipulator and the platform about thewheeled chassis.

Causing rotary movement of both the manipulator and the platform aboutthe wheeled chassis may involve causing the wheeled chassis to bealigned for movement in a direction aligned to pick up or place theplurality of articles along a line, causing rotary movement of themanipulator to orient the manipulator for loading or unloading theplurality of articles, and causing rotary movement of the platform to,after loading each article, dispose an empty location on the platform inreach of the manipulator for loading a subsequent article, or dispose asubsequent article on the platform in reach of the manipulator forunloading.

The method may involve controlling a drive associated with at least onewheel of the wheeled chassis to orient the wheeled chassis to align themanipulator for loading each of the first article and the subsequentarticles.

The method may involve operating at least one tool to perform anoperation on the articles while transporting the plurality of articleson the wheeled chassis.

Operating the at least one tool may involve causing rotational movementbetween the at least one tool and the platform to provide access to eacharticle for performing the operation.

Causing rotational movement between the at least one tool and theplatform may involve causing rotational movement of the manipulator, theat least one tool being coupled to the manipulator.

In accordance with another disclosed aspect there is provided a methodfor transporting a plurality of articles between a pickup location andan intended drop-off location on a wheeled chassis having a pair oftransceivers disposed in spaced apart relation on the wheeled chassis.The method involves positioning a pickup beacon proximate the pluralityof articles at the pickup location, positioning a left drop-off beaconand a right drop-off beacon on either side of the intended drop-offlocation, the left and right drop-off beacons indicating a desiredalignment of the plurality of articles at the respective location,receiving location signals at transceivers disposed on each of thebeacons and at the pair of transceivers on the wheeled chassis,processing the location signals to determine a location and orientationof the wheeled chassis with respect to the beacons, navigating thewheeled chassis using the determined location and orientation of thewheeled chassis to pick up successive articles of the plurality ofarticles proximate the pickup location, move between the pickup locationand the drop-off location, and place articles proximate the drop-offlocation.

Receiving location signals may involve transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB)signals at the transceivers disposed on each of the beacons and at thepair of transceivers on the wheeled chassis, and receiving the UWBsignals at the other transceivers disposed on each of the beacons and atthe pair of transceivers on the wheeled chassis.

Navigating may involve using the location signals to determine areal-time location and orientation for steering the wheeled chassisalong a path between the pickup location and drop-off location,receiving proximity signals indicative of obstacles in the path of thewheeled chassis, and using the received proximity signals and locationsignals to modify the path of the wheeled chassis to avoid detectedobstacles.

Receiving the proximity signals may involve generating proximity signalsusing at least one of an optical sensor, an infrared sensor, lightdetection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor.

Receiving the proximity signals may involve receiving a first proximitysignal from an infrared sensor operably configured to indicate closerange obstacles, and a second proximity signal from a light detectionand ranging (LIDAR) sensor indicating mid and far range obstacles.

The method of may further involve, when the path of the wheeled chassisis within a pre-determined range of the pickup location, processing thereceived proximity signals to determine whether obstacles in the path ofthe wheeled chassis correspond to any of the plurality of articles to betransported, and in response causing the wheeled chassis to steertowards one of the articles in the plurality of articles.

The method of may further involve, when path of the wheeled chassis iswithin a pre-determined range of the drop-off location, causing thewheeled chassis to steer to a first location defined with respect to oneof the left drop-off beacon and a right drop-off beacon for unloading ofa first article.

The method may involve causing the wheeled chassis to steer tosuccessive locations defined with respect to the one of the leftdrop-off beacon and a right drop-off beacon beacon for unloading of asecond article and subsequent articles in the plurality of articles.

In accordance with another disclosed aspect there is provided a systemfor transporting a plurality of articles between a pickup location andan intended drop-off location. The system includes a wheeled chassishaving a pair of transceivers disposed in spaced apart relation on thewheeled chassis, a pickup beacon positioned proximate the plurality ofarticles at the pickup location, a left drop-off beacon and a rightdrop-off beacon positioned on either side of the intended drop-offlocation. The left and right drop-off beacons indicate a desiredalignment of the plurality of articles at the respective location, eachbeacon including a transceiver. The transceivers on the beacons and thepair of transceivers on the wheeled chassis are operably configured toreceive location signals and process the location signals to determine alocation and orientation of the wheeled chassis with respect to thebeacons for navigating the wheeled chassis to pick up articles in theplurality of articles proximate the pickup location, to move between thepickup location and the drop-off location, and to place articles in theplurality of articles proximate the drop-off location.

The transceivers disposed on each beacon and the pair of transceivers onthe wheeled chassis may include ultra-wideband (UWB) transceivers.

The system may include at least one proximity sensor disposed on thewheeled chassis, the proximity sensor being operable to provide anindication of obstacles in the path of the wheeled chassis.

Other aspects and features will become apparent to those ordinarilyskilled in the art upon review of the following description of specificdisclosed embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In drawings which illustrate disclosed embodiments,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus for transporting aplurality of articles according to a first disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a cut-away perspective view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a manipulator of the apparatus shown inFIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an alternative manipulator embodimentfor the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a partially exploded perspective view of the manipulator shownin FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a processor circuit for implementing anon-board controller of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directing theprocessor circuit of FIG. 6 to control autonomous loading operations ofthe apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 8A to 8E are a series of plan views of the apparatus shown in FIG.1 performing the loading process shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an alternative embodiment of a portion of the process shown inFIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directing theprocessor circuit shown in FIG. 6 to control autonomous unloadingoperations of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11A to 11C are a series of plan views of the apparatus shown inFIG. 1 performing the unloading process shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of an apparatus for transporting aplurality of articles according to an alternative disclosed embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a plan view of a positioning system for determining aposition of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 within an area;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directing acontroller to locate arbitrarily positioned beacons of the positioningsystem shown in FIG. 13; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directing thecontroller and the processor circuit shown in FIG. 6 to locatearbitrarily positioned beacons of the positioning system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an apparatus for transporting a plurality ofarticles according to a first disclosed embodiment is shown generally at100. The apparatus 100 includes a wheeled chassis 102. In the embodimentshown, the wheeled chassis 102 includes a pair of drive wheels 104, apair of front castor wheels 106 (only one of each of the pairs of wheelsis visible in FIG. 1), and a further rear castor wheel (not visible inFIG. 1 but shown at 108 in FIG. 2). The castor wheels 106 and 108 areable to swivel to permit the wheeled chassis 102 to move in a directiondetermined by the drive provided to the pair of drive wheels 104. Thewheeled chassis 102 has a rounded shape, but in other embodiments may beotherwise shaped.

The apparatus 100 also includes a platform 110 disposed on the wheeledchassis 102. The platform 110 has an upper surface 112 for receiving aplurality of articles 114 to be transported. In FIG. 1, two articles 116and 118 of a plurality of articles 114 have been received on theplatform 110 and a third article 120 is about to be loaded onto theplatform 110. The apparatus 100 also includes a manipulator 122 coupledto the wheeled chassis 102. The manipulator 122 has a pair of endeffectors 124 and 126 for grasping the article 120. The movements of theend effectors 124 and 126 are actuated by actuators housed in anactuator housing 152. In other applications, the pair of end effectors124 and 126 may be otherwise configured in accordance with the articlesto be loaded and unloaded.

In operation, the apparatus 100 is configured to permit successiverelative rotational movements between the manipulator 122 and theplatform 110 in a direction indicated by the arrow 128. The successiverelative rotational movements provide access for loading each subsequentarticle in the plurality of articles 114 onto the platform 110 atsuccessive rotationally spaced apart positions. For example, as shown inFIG. 1, the platform 110 has been positioned to permit access to aposition 130 for receiving the article 120. The platform 110 may have apair of article supports 131 at each position such as shown for theposition 130 in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment shown the plurality of articles 114 are plant pots andthe apparatus 100 may be used in a plant nursery. Another application ofthe apparatus 100 may involve transporting blood samples from onelocation to another within a health care facility.

The apparatus 100 is shown with the platform 110 partially cut away inFIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 2, in this embodiment the apparatus 100includes a base 132 coupled to the wheeled chassis. The platform 110includes a gear 134 coupled to an underside 137 of the platform 110. Thegear 134 and platform are mounted via a shaft 138 to the base 132. Theapparatus 100 also includes a platform actuator 140 for providing arotation torque to a drive gear 136 that meshes with the gear 134. Theplatform actuator 140 includes a rotational encoder (not shown) thatmeasures the angular rotation of the platform 110. In this embodimentthe platform actuator 140 is implemented using an electrical motor thatgenerates a torque for causing rotational movement of the drive gear136, which in turn causes the gear 134 and the platform 110 to rotateabout the shaft 138 in the direction 128 with respect to the base 132.

In the embodiment shown, the base 132 is also rotatable with respect tothe wheeled chassis 102 and includes a gear 142 coupled to the wheeledchassis. The base 132 includes a base actuator 144 having a drive gear146 that engages with the gear 142. In this embodiment the base actuator144 is implemented using an electrical motor that generates a torque forcausing rotational movement of the drive gear 146, which causes the base132 to rotate about the gear 142, and thus the wheeled chassis 102, in adirection indicated by the arrow 148. The base actuator 144 is mountedto a cover plate 149 (shown partially cut away in FIG. 2) that coversthe base 132. The base actuator 144 includes a rotational encoder 151for measuring the angular rotation of the base 132. The cover plate 149,which is shown cut away in FIG. 2, extends across and covers the base132 and carries a plurality of rollers (of which a roller 153 is shownin FIG. 2). The rollers are distributed peripherally on the cover plateand support the underside 137 platform 110 during loading, transporting,and unloading operations.

In this embodiment, the manipulator 122 is coupled to and moves with thebase 132. Since the platform 110 is also coupled to the base 132, theplatform will move in the direction 148 when the base moves and relativerotational movements of the platform 110 with respect to the base areactuated by causing the platform actuator 140 to drive the drive gear136.

In other embodiments the platform 110 and base 132 may be independentlyrotatable relative to the wheeled chassis 102. Alternatively, in someembodiments the base 132 may be fixed to the wheeled chassis and notable to rotate independently of the wheeled chassis 102.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 both of the pair of thewheels 104 are independently driven by a hub drive 150. The front castorwheels 106 and rear castor wheel 108 are not driven but rather providestability for the wheeled chassis 102. In other embodiments the pair ofdriven wheels 104 may have a common drive and one of the castor wheels106 and 108 may be steerable.

The apparatus 100 also includes a proximity sensor 154, which isoperable to provide an indication of obstacles in the path of thewheeled chassis 102. In the embodiment shown the proximity sensor 154 isimplemented using an optical light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor.Other proximity sensors such as an infrared sensor or ultrasonic sensormay be alternatively or additionally used to implement the proximitysensor 154.

The manipulator 122 is shown in isolation in FIG. 3 with a cover (shownin FIG. 2) of the actuator housing 152 removed to reveal details ofactuators for activating movements of the manipulator. Referring to FIG.3, the manipulator 122 includes a frame 300, a pair of endplates 302 and304. In the embodiment shown, the end effectors 124 and 126 are coupledto respective arms 306 and 308. Each arm 306 and 308 is mounted forrotation on a respective spline shaft 310 and 312. The manipulator 122also includes an arm actuator 314, which is coupled to the respectivespline shafts 310 and 312. The spline shaft 310 extends between abearing 316 mounted on the endplate 302 and the actuator housing 152 andis coupled to the arm actuator 314. Similarly, the spline shaft 312extends between a bearing 318 mounted on the endplate 304 and theactuator housing 152 and is also coupled to the arm actuator 314.

The arm actuator 314 is operable to generate a rotational torque on thespline shafts 310 and 312 for causing the arms 306 and 308 to be rotatedabout the shafts for raising or lowering the respective end effectors124 and 126. The arm actuator 314 includes an encoder (not shown) thatprovides a measurement of the rotational position of the spline shafts310 and 312 and thus the arms 306 and 308. In the embodiment shown, theend effectors 124 and 126 are mounted on a pulley belt 320, which iscoupled to between a pulley wheel on the spline shaft 312 (not shown)and a pulley wheel 322. When the pulley wheel on the spline shaft 312rotates, the pulley belt 320 causes a corresponding synchronous rotationof the pulley wheel 322 such that the end effector 126 remains in theorientation shown (i.e. generally vertically oriented) when the arm 308is raised or lowered. The arm 306 is similarly configured.

The manipulator 122 also includes a guide rod 324 extending between theendplate 302 and the actuator housing 152 and a guide rod 326 extendingbetween the endplate 304 and the actuator housing. The arms 306 and 308are coupled to respective linear guides 328 and 330 that are received onthe respective guide rods 324 and 326. The linear guides 328 and 330facilitate translational movements of the arms 306 and 308 along therespective guide rods 324 and 326. The manipulator 122 further includesa leadscrew 332, a leadscrew 334, and a translation actuator 336. Theleadscrew 332 extends between a bearing 338 mounted on the endplate 302and the actuator housing 152 and is coupled to the translation actuator336. Similarly, the leadscrew 334 extends between a bearing 340 mountedon the endplate 304 and the actuator housing 152 and is coupled to thetranslation actuator 336. Each linear guide 328 and 330 has a leadscrewnut (only the leadscrew nut 342 associated with the guide 328 is visiblein FIG. 3), which is received on the respective leadscrews for causingtranslational movement of the linear guides to reduce or increase alateral distance between the pair of end effectors 124 and 126 foraccommodating different sized articles. In this embodiment the leadscrew332 and leadscrew 334 have opposite thread directions, such thatrotation of the respective leadscrews by the translation actuator 336causes opposite movements of the respective linear guides 328 and 330along the guide rods 324 and 326. The translation actuator 336 includesa rotary encoder (not shown) that provides a measurement of therotational drive provided to the leadscrews 332 and 334, which isconverted into a linear translation distance based on the leadscrewthread pitch.

An alternative manipulator embodiment is shown in FIG. 5 at 450.Referring to FIG. 5, the manipulator 450 includes a frame 452, whichattaches to the apparatus 100 via a bracket 454. The manipulator 450includes a pair of arms 456 and 458 having respective end effectors 460and 462. Further details of the manipulator 450 are shown in thepartially exploded view of FIG. 5. Referring to FIG. 5, the arms 456 and458 are similarly configured to the arms 306 and 308 shown in FIG. 3,and include a pulley belt 464 coupled to between pulley wheels 466 and468 for providing synchronous rotation such that the end effectors 460and 462 maintain their orientation when the arms are raised or lowered.

The manipulator 450 includes pivots 470 and 472 mounted on the frame 452for pivotably mounting each of the arms 456 and 458. In FIG. 5, the arm456 is shown removed from the pivot 470 to better show details of themanipulator 450. The pivot 470 has a vertically extending portion 474for engaging a channel (not shown) in the pulley wheel 466 such that thepulley wheel is able to rotate freely about the vertically extendingportion of the pivot in a direction indicated by the arrow 476. Themanipulator 450 also includes an arm actuator 478 operable to raise orlower the arms 456 and 458 by causing rotation of a shaft 480, which iscoupled to arm mounting brackets 482 and 484. When the shaft 480 causesthe arm 456 to be raised or lowered, the vertically extending portion474 of the pivot 470 prevents the pulley 466 from rotating and thepulley belt 464 is moved causing a rotational movement to the pulleywheel 468 in proportion to the upward or downward movement of the arm.In this manner, the end effector 460 remains oriented as shown in FIG. 4when the arm is raised or lowered. The arm 458 is configured in the sameway.

The manipulator 450 also includes respective stepper motors 486 and 488for causing lateral rotation of the respective arms 456 and 458. Thestepper motor 488 associated with the arm 458 is shown with an outercovering removed in FIG. 5. The stepper motor is coupled via a driveshaft 490 to a beam 492 of the arm 458 and causes lateral rotation ofthe beam and arm about the drive shaft in a direction shown by the arrow494.

The manipulator 450 thus differs from the manipulator 122 in that thearms 456 and 458 are configured for a “pincer” type movement forgripping and releasing articles rather than for a lateral translation asin the case of the arms 306 and 308.

Referring back to FIG. 2, in the embodiment shown the apparatus 100further includes an on-board controller 160 for autonomously controllingoperations of the apparatus. The controller 160 is shown in more detailin FIG. 6 and may be implemented using an embedded processor circuitsuch as a Microsoft Windows® industrial PC. Referring to FIG. 6, thecontroller 160 includes a microprocessor 400, a memory 402, and an inputoutput (I/O) 404, all of which are in communication with themicroprocessor 400. The I/O 404 includes a wireless interface 406 (suchas an IEEE 802.11 interface) for wirelessly receiving and transmittingdata communication signals between the controller 160 and a network 408.The I/O 404 also includes a wired network interface 410 (such as anEthernet interface) for connecting to the LIDAR proximity sensor 154.The I/O 404 further includes a USB interface 412 for connecting to adigital to analog converter (DAC) 414 and to ultra-wideband transceivers(UWB) 416 and 417.

The DAC 414 includes a plurality of ports for receiving analog signalsand converting the analog signals into digital data representing thesignals and/or producing analog control signals. In the embodiment shownthe DAC 414 includes a port 418 for producing control signals forcontrolling the platform actuator 140. The rotary encoder of theplatform actuator 140 produces a signal indicating a rotational positionof the platform 110, which are received at the port 418. The DAC 414also includes a port 420 for producing control signals for controllingthe base actuator 144. The rotational encoder 151 of the base actuator144 produces a signal indicating a rotational position of the base 132,which are received at the port 420. The DAC 414 also includes a port 422for producing control signals for controlling the arm actuator 314 and aport 424 for producing control signals for controlling the translationactuator 336 of the manipulator 122. Signals from the encodersassociated with the actuators 314 and 336 are received at the respectiveports 422 and 424. The DAC 414 also includes a port 426 for producingcontrol signals for controlling the hub drives 150 of the respectivedrive wheels 104 for moving and steering the wheeled chassis 102 of theapparatus 100.

Program codes for directing the microprocessor 400 to carry out variousfunctions are stored in a location 430 of the memory 402, which may beimplemented as a flash memory, for example. The program codes 430 directthe microprocessor 400 to implement an operating system (such asMicrosoft Windows for example) and to perform various other systemfunctions associated with operation of the apparatus 100. The memory 402also includes variable storage locations 432 for storing variable andparameter data associated with operation of the apparatus 100.

In other embodiments (not shown), the controller 160 may be partly orfully implemented using a hardware logic circuit including discretelogic circuits, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC),and/or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), for example.

Referring to FIG. 7, a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directingthe controller processor circuit 160 to control autonomous loadingoperations of the apparatus 100 is shown at 500. The blocks generallyrepresent codes that may be read from the program codes location 430 ofthe memory 402 for directing the microprocessor 400 to perform variousloading functions. The actual code to implement each block may bewritten in any suitable program language, such as C, C++, C#, Java,and/or assembly code, for example.

A plan view of the apparatus 100 performing the loading process 500 isprovided in FIGS. 8A-8F as an example of a typical loading operation forthe apparatus 100. The loading process 500 starts at block 502, whichdirects the microprocessor 400 to receive signals produced by the LIDARproximity sensor 154 at the wired network interface 410 of the I/O 404.Referring to FIG. 8A, a plurality of articles to be loaded at a pickuplocation 602 is shown generally at 604. The LIDAR proximity sensor 154is operable to detect articles within a range of angles indicated bybroken lines 608 and 610 in FIG. 8A. In one embodiment, standarddimensions for articles to be loaded are stored in the memory 402 (forexample a height H and a width W) and block 502 directs themicroprocessor 400 read the H and W values and to determine whether thereceived LIDAR signals include data that corresponds to thesedimensions. Articles that generate LIDAR data signals that generallymatch the standard dimensions are identified as articles to be loaded atthe pickup location 602.

Block 504 directs the microprocessor 400 to output signals at the USBinterface 412 of the I/O 404, which cause the DAC 414 to generate wheeldrive signals at the port 426 for controlling the respective hub drives150 of the drive wheels 104. The generated drive signals control therespective hub drives 150 for steering the wheeled chassis 102 toward afirst detected article 606 of the plurality of articles 604.

Block 506 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 toproduce signals at the port 422 for causing the arms 306 and 308 to bepositioned for loading by causing the arm translation actuator 336 totranslate the arms outwardly to accommodate the width of the detectedarticle. Block 506 also directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC414 to produce signals at the port 422 for causing the arm rotationactuator 314 rotate the arms 306 and 308 about the spline shafts 310 and312 until the end effectors 124 and 126 are positioned at heightcorresponding to the height H of the article 604. Referring to FIG. 8B,in this embodiment the when positioned for loading, the arms 306 and 308are spaced apart at a distance slightly exceeding the width W of thearticle 606, either based on the standard dimensions saved in memory 402or based on a measured dimension of the article from the LIDAR data.

Block 508 then directs the microprocessor 400 to generate wheel drivesignals at the port 426 to advance and steer the wheeled chassis 102 toalign the arms 306 and 308 such that the respective end effectors 124and 126 are aligned to grasp the article 606 at diametrically opposingsurfaces thereof, as shown in FIG. 8B. Block 510 then directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to produce signals at the port422 for causing the arms 306 and 308 to translate inwardly to engage thearticle 606.

The loading process 500 then continues at block 512, which directs themicroprocessor 400 to determine whether there is a vacant loadingposition available on the platform 110. If there is a vacant loadingposition available (in the example shown in FIG. 8B the platform isempty), then the microprocessor 400 is directed to block 514. In oneembodiment, the number of positions on the platform 110 than can beoccupied by articles 604 is determined based on the width W of thearticles. A register of the number of positions already filled may alsobe stored in memory 402, and used by the microprocessor 400 to determinewhether there is a vacant position remaining on the platform 110.

Block 514 directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 togenerate platform actuation signals at the port 418 for causing theplatform 110 to rotate to align a vacant position 612 (shown in brokenoutline) behind the arms 306 and 308 of the manipulator 122. In theexample shown in FIG. 8B, since the platform 110 is empty, no rotationalmovement of the platform is necessary, but if any articles had alreadybeen loaded the platform would need to be rotated to align a vacantposition behind the arms 306 and 308 of the manipulator 122.

While blocks 512 and 514 are depicted as following sequentially afterblocks 502-510, in practice the functions of these blocks may beperformed in parallel with other functions. Similarly, the functions ofblocks 506 and 510 may also be performed in parallel with functions 504and 508.

Block 516 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 togenerate signals at the port 422 to cause the the arm rotation actuator314 to rotate the arms 306 and 308 upwardly about the spline shafts 310and 312 towards the platform 110 (as shown in broken outline in FIG. 8C)and over the center toward the vacant position 612 on the platform 110.

Block 518 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 toproduce signals at the port 422 for causing the arm translation actuator336 to translate the arms 306 and 308 outwardly to disengage the article606, as shown in FIG. 8C. Block 518 also direct the microprocessor 400to return the arms to the loading position by causing the DAC 414 tooutput signals for causing the arm actuator 314 to rotate the arms 306and 308 back to the forward oriented position as shown in FIG. 8B. Block518 may also cause blocks 512 and 514 to be repeated to cause theplatform actuator 140 to rotate the platform 110 to align a vacantposition for loading the next article behind the arms 306 and 308 of themanipulator.

The loading process 500 then continues at block 520, which directs themicroprocessor 400 to receive signals produced by the LIDAR proximitysensor 154 at the wired network interface 410 of the I/O 404. Block 522then directs the microprocessor 400 to determine whether furtherarticles are detected, in which case block 522 directs themicroprocessor back to block 504 to repeat blocks 504-512. If no furtherarticles are detected, then block 522 directs the microprocessor 400 toblock 526, which causes the DAC 414 to generate wheel drive signals atthe port 426 for steering the wheeled chassis 102 toward a drop-offlocation (not shown in FIG. 8).

If at block 512, there is no vacant loading position on the platform110, the microprocessor 400 is directed to block 524. Block 524 directsthe microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signals at theport 422 for causing the arm actuator 314 to elevate the article 606 offthe ground and to hold the article in the arms for transport.Advantageously, even though there are no vacant positions on theplatform 110, an additional article may be carried in the pair of endeffectors 124 and 126. Block 526 then directs the microprocessor 400 tocause the DAC 414 to generate wheel drive signals at the port 426 forsteering the wheeled chassis 102 toward a drop-off location (not shownin FIG. 8).

In the process 500 as described above, the platform actuator 140positions the platform 110 such that successive vacant loading positionson the platform are disposed to receive articles 604. Additionally oralternatively, the base actuator 144 may be actuated together with theplatform actuator 140 at block 506 to facilitate efficient movement ofloading of articles. An alternative embodiment of the functionsimplemented at block 506 is shown in FIG. 9. Referring back to FIG. 8C,following loading of the article 606, the LIDAR proximity sensor 154 maydetect an article 614 in the plurality of articles 604 as the nextarticle to be loaded. Referring to FIG. 9, block 700 directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signals for rotatingthe arms 306 and 306 to a correct loading height H for picking up thearticle 614 and block 702 directs the microprocessor 400 to cause theDAC 414 to generate signals for translating the arms 306 and 306 to acorrect width W for engaging the article 614.

Block 704 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 togenerate wheel drive signals at the port 426 to move the wheeled chassistoward the article 614. As shown in FIG. 8C, the wheels remain orientedto move the wheeled chassis 102 in a direction indicated by the arrow616. Referring to FIG. 8D, and FIG. 9, block 706 then directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signals at the port420 for causing the base actuator 144 to rotate the base 132 and theattached manipulator 122 in the direction indicated by the arrow 618.Block 708 then directs the microprocessor 400 to receive proximitysignals from the proximity sensor 154 at the wired network interface 410of the I/O 404. Block 710 then directs the microprocessor 400 todetermine whether the apparatus 100 is aligned for loading of thearticle 614. If at block 710 the apparatus 100 is not yet aligned forloading of the article 614, block 710 directs the microprocessor back toblock 704 and blocks 704-708 are repeated to perform further movementiterations until at block 710, it is determined that the apparatus isaligned for loading as shown in FIG. 8D. While blocks 704 and 708 areshown being sequential in FIG. 9, the movement functions could also beperformed in parallel. The article 614 is then loaded into a vacantposition 620 as described above in connection with blocks 512-520 orblocks 524 and 526. When the platform 110 is rotated to place the vacantposition 620 behind the manipulator arms 306 and 308, the rotation ofthe base 132 is taken into account and the loading operation thusinvolves coordinated movements of the wheeled chassis 102, base 132, andplatform 110. Block 710 then directs the microprocessor 400 to block 510of the process 500, where the microprocessor is directed to cause theDAC 414 to produce signals at the port 422 for causing the arms 306 and308 to translate inwardly to engage the article.

Referring to FIG. 8E, on completion of the process loading process 500,the platform 110 has 5 of the plurality of articles 604 loaded on theplatform 110 and a sixth article 622 held for transport in end effectors124 and 126. As described above, block 526 directs the microprocessor400 to generate wheel drive signals to steer the wheeled chassis towarda drop-off location 624. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 8E, twoarticles 626 have already been dropped off at the drop-off location 624.The on-board controller 160 monitors signals produced by the LIDARproximity sensor 154 to avoid colliding with any obstacles, such as theforklift truck.

Referring to FIG. 10, a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directingthe controller processor circuit 160 to control autonomous unloadingoperations of the apparatus 100 is shown at 800. The process begins atblock 802, which directs the microprocessor 400 to receive LIDAR signalsfrom the proximity sensor 154 at the wired network interface 410 of theI/O 404 and to process the signals to detect already unloaded articlesat the drop-off location 624.

Two articles 626 have already been unloaded at the drop-off location624. Block 804 then directs the microprocessor 400 to identify a nextopen space with respect to the articles 626. Referring to FIG. 11A, inthe embodiment shown articles are to be spaced apart by a distance D andaligned along a datum line 900. The distance D may be calculated basedon the width W of the articles and such that there remains sufficientspace between adjacent articles to permit the end effectors 124 and 126to be maneuvered. The next open space is identified at 902, and block806 directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generatewheel drive signals at the port 426 to cause the wheeled chassis 102 tomove toward the next open space 902 and to position the article 622(held in the end effectors 124 and 126) above the open space. Block 808then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generatesignals at the port 422 to cause the arms 306 and 308 to rotate to lowerthe article 622 into the open space 902. Block 808 also directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signals at the port424 to translate the arms 306 and 308 outwardly to disengage the article622.

Block 810 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 togenerate signals at the port 422 to cause the arms 306 and 308 to beraised to clear the article. Block 812 then directs the microprocessor400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate wheel drive signals to orient thewheeled chassis 102 for lateral movement in a direction 904 aligned withthe datum line 900 along which the already unloaded articles 626 and 622are aligned. Block 814 then directs the microprocessor 400 to cause theDAC 414 to generate signals at the port 420 to cause the base actuator144 to rotate the base 132 to re-orient the manipulator 122 toward thearticles 626 as shown in FIG. 11B. Block 814 further directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signals at the port418 to cause the platform actuator 140 to rotate the platform 110 in adirection indicated by the arrow 906 to align an article 908 on theplatform behind the manipulator 122. Block 816 then directs themicroprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to produce signals at the port422 to align the arms 306 and 308 such that the respective end effectors124 and 126 are aligned to grasp the article 908 at diametricallyopposing surfaces thereof, as shown in FIG. 11B. Block 816 also directsthe microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to produce signals at theport 424 to cause the end effectors 124 and 126 to grasp the article908, and to produce signals at the port 422 to lift the article over thecenter and lower the article into a next open space 910. Block 818 thendirects the microprocessor 400 to cause the DAC 414 to generate signalsat the port 424 to translate the arms 306 and 308 outwardly to disengagethe article 908. The article 906 is again aligned with the datum line900 and placed a distance D from the article 622.

The process 800 then continues at block 820, which directs themicroprocessor 400 to determine whether there are further articlesremaining on the platform to be unloaded. As described above, a registerfor the number of loaded articles is stored in the memory 402 and isread and updated by the microprocessor each time an article is unloadedfrom the platform 110. If at block 820 further articles are still to beunloaded, the microprocessor 400 is directed to block 822, which directsthe microprocessor to cause the DAC 414 to generate wheel drive signalsat the port 426 to cause a further lateral movement corresponding to thedistance D in the direction 904 for unloading the next article into anopen space 914. Block 822 then directs the microprocessor 400 back toblock 814 and blocks 814-820 are repeated for each remaining article onthe platform 110.

If at block 820, no further articles remain on the platform, then theunloading process ends at 824. In the embodiment shown, the combinationof the rotatable base 132 and rotatable platform 110 advantageouslyallow orientation of the wheels 104 for movement in the direction 904.Subsequent lateral movements of the wheeled chassis 102 by the distanceD facilitate rapid unloading of articles from the platform. Inembodiments having a fixed base 132, following placement of the articlein the open space 902, each subsequent unload would require a reversingmovement of the wheeled chassis 102 to clear the unloaded articlefollowed by a forward movement of the wheeled chassis to align with thenext open space.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 11A-11C, the articles are aligned alonga single datum line 900. In other embodiments, articles may be unloadedto align with a plurality of spaced apart datum lines such that articlesare placed in several rows. The autonomous unloading operations of theapparatus 100 result in a precise alignment of the articles and alsoprecise spacing D between articles. The precise alignment and spacingprovided by the autonomous unloading has the advantage of conservingspace at the drop-off location 624, which may accommodate a greaternumber of articles than if manually placed.

An alternative embodiment of an apparatus for transporting a pluralityof articles is shown in FIG. 12 at 1000. Referring to FIG. 12, theapparatus 1000 includes all of the components of the apparatus 100 shownin FIG. 1, including the wheeled chassis 102 having drive wheels 104 andcastor wheels 106, the base 132 and platform 110, and the manipulator122. The apparatus 1000 further includes one or more tools operablyconfigured to perform an operation on the plurality of articles 114while being transported on the wheeled chassis 102. In the embodimentshown, a plurality of tool supports 1002, 1004, 1006, and 1008 arecoupled to the base 132. The tool support 1002 has a spraying tool 1010mounted on the support. The spraying tool 1010 is operable to draw aliquid plant protection product, such as a pesticide, contained in areservoir 1012 and to spray the liquid onto a plant articles in theplurality of articles 114 disposed in a path of the spray. The toolsupport 1004 has a robotic arm 1014 mounted on the support. In oneembodiment the robotic arm 1014 may be an articulated robot such as aSCARA (Selective Compliance Articulated Robot Arm), which is simple tomount on the tool support 1004 and has a small footprint. In embodimentswhere the articles 114 are plant pots operations such as trimming,sticking, or other operations may be performed by the articulated robot.The apparatus 1000 also includes a plurality of cameras 1018, 1020,1022, and 1024 mounted on respective supports 1006 and 1008, which areoperable to generate images facilitating inspection of the plurality ofarticles 114. In other embodiments, the apparatus 1000 may only have asingle tool and tool support. Alternatively, in some embodiments morethan four tools may be provided.

Further examples of tools that me be mounted on one of the plurality oftool supports 1002-1008, include a labeling machine, a 3D printer head,a drilling and/or milling machine, a cutting and trimming machine, amonitoring apparatus, etc.

Actuation of the platform actuator 140 causes the platform 110 to rotatein the direction 128 to dispose successive articles in the plurality ofarticles 114 to be operated on by the spraying tool 1010, robotic arm1014, and inspection cameras 1016-1022. In the embodiment shown wherethe base 132 is rotatable with respect to the wheeled chassis 102, theplurality of tool supports 1002-1008 would thus also move with the base.As an alternative, the platform 110 may be held in a fixed rotationalorientation while the base 132 is rotated to cause the tools, 1012,1014, and 1016-1022 to be successively disposed to perform operations oneach of the plurality of articles 114. In the embodiment described abovewhere the platform is not rotatable, the rotatable base 132 would thusprovide for rotational movement to dispose each tool to operate on thearticles. In the other disclosed embodiment, where the base 132 is fixedand the manipulator 122 is thus not moveable w.r.t. the wheeled chassis102, rotational movement of the platform 110 thus disposes each of theplurality of articles 114 to be operated on by each tool.

The upper surface 112 of the platform 110 thus accommodates severalarticles on which operations can be performed while the apparatus 100 ismoving between the pickup location 602 and the drop-off location 624.This has the advantage over prior-art systems that need to transportarticles to a fixed station where operations are performed on theplurality of articles 114 before transporting the articles to thedrop-off location 624. The relatively large upper surface 112 of theplatform 110 also accommodates several articles (in this case 6articles) for both transport to the drop-off location 624 andsimultaneous performing of operations using the tools 1012, 1014, and1016-1022.

In FIG. 1, the proximity sensor 154 of the apparatus embodiment 100 wasdisclosed as being implemented using a single LIDAR sensor. In theapparatus embodiment 1000 shown in FIG. 12, the proximity sensor 154 isimplemented using a LIDAR sensor 1024 and an infrared sensor 1026, wherethe infrared sensor 1026 performs close range proximity detection andthe LIDAR sensor performs mid-range and long-range proximity detection.Some LIDAR sensors do not provide sufficient resolution for close rangeobjects, while new LIDAR sensors that have recently become available mayprovide sufficient resolution at close range. As an example, theinfrared sensor 1026 may be used for detection of objects within a rangeof about 100 cm, while the LIDAR sensor 1024 may be used to cover rangesbetween about 15 cm and 6 meters.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the apparatus 100 may further include a pairof spaced apart mounts 162 and 164 that carry the respective UWBtransceivers 416 and 417 (shown in FIG. 6). The UWB transceivers 416 and417 are operable to receive and/or transmit radio frequency (RF)positioning signals. Ultra-wideband transceivers use a low energy levelRF pulse transmission over a wide bandwidth for short-rangecommunications and are commonly used in precision locating and trackingapplications. UWB pulses have low energy and in addition to requiringless operating power, also generally do not conflict with other wirelesssignals. In the embodiment shown, the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 areimplemented using the DWM1000 UWB wireless transceiver modulemanufactured by DecaWave of Dublin, Ireland, which facilitates locationof objects to a precision of about 10 centimeters indoors over a rangeof up to about 300 meters. For the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 on theapparatus 100, the DWM1000 module is configured as a “tag”, for whichthe position is to be tracked.

FIG. 13 shows a plan view of an area 1100 such as a plant nursery floor.A plurality of articles (in this case, plants in pots) are to betransported on the wheeled chassis 102 of the apparatus 100 between apickup location 1102 and an intended drop-off location 1104 within thearea 1100. Referring to FIG. 13, a positioning system shown generally at1106 includes a pickup beacon 1108 positioned proximate a plurality ofarticles 1110 at the pickup location 1102. The positioning system 1106also includes a left drop-off beacon 1112 positioned proximate theintended drop-off location 1104 and a right drop-off beacon 1114positioned proximate drop-off location 1104. The left drop-off beacon1112 and right drop-off beacon 1114 define a datum 1116 for indicating adesired alignment of articles at the drop-off location 1104.

Each of the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114 includes a transceiver forreceiving and/or transmitting positioning signals. In one embodiment ofthe positioning system 1106, the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114 may alsoeach include a DWM1000 UWB wireless transceiver module configured as an“anchor”, which provides fixed reference points for locating theapparatus 100 within the area 1100. The UWB transceivers 416 and 417 andthe UWB transceivers on each beacon 1108, 1112, and 1114 each include awireless interface, and are able to transmit and receive data signalsfrom each other including timing information. In one embodimentcommunications between the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 and the UWBtransceivers on each beacon 1108, 1112, and 1114 may be in accordancewith the IEEE 802.15.4 protocol for low-rate wireless personal areanetworks. The UWB transceivers 416 and 417 on the apparatus 100 are incommunication with the on-board controller 160 via a USB interface 412,as shown in FIG. 6. Advantageously, the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 andthe UWB transceivers on the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114 provideaccurate real time positioning of the apparatus 100 within a workspacethat does not rely on tracking movements of the drive wheels 104 or hubdrive 150.

The pickup beacon 1108 is used to generally indicate the pickup location1104 where the plurality of articles 1110 are located. In thisembodiment the datum 1116 provided by the left drop-off beacon 1112 andright drop-off beacon 1114 indicate a desired alignment of a pluralityof articles 1122 at the drop-off location 1106. In FIG. 13 articles inthe plurality of articles 1122 that have already been unloaded have beenaligned along a line 1124, which is spaced apart from the datum 1116 bya distance S.

In order to determine the position of the UWB transceivers 416 and 417it is necessary to first establish the location of each of the beacons1108, 1112, and 1114 in a local coordinate frame 1126. In oneembodiment, the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114 may be placed at arbitraryfixed positions and the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 and on-boardcontroller 160 may be configured to locate each of the beacons withinthe local coordinate frame 1126.

Referring to FIG. 14, a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directingthe controller 160 to locate arbitrarily positioned beacons 1108, 1112,and 1114 in the local coordinate frame 1126 is shown generally at 1200.The process 1200 begins at block 1202, which directs the controller 160to cause the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 on the apparatus 100 toinitiate transmission of positioning signals, which are received by theUWB transceivers on each beacon 1108, 1112, and 1114. The UWBtransceivers transmit signals over a wide bandwidth, which is equivalentto transmission of a very precise narrow pulse (about 1 nanosecond) inthe time domain and facilitates accurate determination of a time offlight (TOF) for each transmitted pulse. In one embodiment the UWBtransceivers may implement two-way ranging in which the transceiversexchange timing information over several transmissions between thetransceivers to provide for precise TOF measurements. Signals receivedback at the transceivers 416 and 417 from the beacons 1108, 1112, and1114 are processed to calculate distances d; corresponding to thedetermined TOF for each pulse transmission. The distances between eachbeacon are given by:

d _(i) =TOF*c;  Eqn 1

where d_(i) is the calculated distance and c is the speed of light. Whentwo-way ranging is implemented, each distance d_(i) is calculated basedon several transmissions between transceivers, and thus provides animproved distance measurement between beacons. As described above inconnection with FIG. 6, the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 are incommunication with the microprocessor 400 of the on-board controller 160and the TOF and/or the distances d_(i) are thus made available to thecontroller 160 for further processing via the USB interface 412 to thetransceivers. In some embodiments the on-board controller 160 mayreceive TOF information and calculate the distances at the controller.In other embodiments received position data may already be convertedinto distances.

Block 1206 then directs the controller 160 to establish the localcoordinate frame 1126 with respect to the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114.This involves designating one beacon as an origin of the localcoordinate frame 1126 (in this case the left drop-off beacon 1112),designating another beacon as defining a direction of the positivex-axis (in this case the right drop-off beacon 1114), and establishingthe y-axis perpendicular to the x-axis. Block 1208 then directs thecontroller 160 to use the calculated distances to determine the positionof the remaining beacons (i.e. in this case the right drop-off beacon1114 and the right drop-off beacon 1114 right drop-off beacon 1114)within the local coordinate frame 1126. The beacons 1108, 1112, and1114, while placed in arbitrary positions thus facilitate establishmentof a fixed frame of reference 1126 for the positioning system 1106.

Referring to FIG. 15, a flowchart depicting blocks of code for directingthe on-board controller 160 of the apparatus 100 determine its positionwithin the area 1100 is shown generally at 1300. The process 1300 beginsat block 1302, which directs the microprocessor 400 of the on-boardcontroller 160 to cause the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 to transmitpositioning pulses, generally as described above. The transmission ofthe positioning pulses, when received at the beacons 1108, 1112, and1114 cause transmission of return positioning pulses from the beaconsincluding data related to the TOF associated with the pulsetransmission. The process 1300 then continues at block 1304, where thepositioning pulses are received back at the UWB transceivers 416 and 417and three distances d; are calculated for each of the UWB transceiversbased on the determined TOF as described above.

At block 1306, the distances d_(i) are provided to the microprocessor400 for further processing. Block 1308 then directs the microprocessor400 to uniquely locate the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 in the localcoordinate frame 1126 with respect to the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114.The location process generally involves finding the intersection betweencircles centered at each of the beacons 1108, 1112, and 1114 and havinga respective radius of d_(i). In practice, noise and other errors willlikely not yield a unique intersection point, but probabilistic methodssuch as a least squares approximation may be used to provide arelatively precise estimate of the location of each sensor. If a more aprecise estimation of the location of the sensors 416 and 418 isrequired, an additional beacon (not shown) may be added to furtherreduce uncertainties associated with the position calculation. Theprocess 1300 will generally be repeated at a repetition rate sufficientto locate the apparatus 100 in real-time or near-real time, whilereducing the power consumption of the transceivers that may be poweredby batteries.

The apparatus 100 may use the positional information for navigating thewheeled chassis to pick up articles from the plurality of articles 1110at the pickup location 1104 and to move between the pickup location andthe drop-off location 1106, and to place articles in the plurality ofarticles proximate the destination location. The position of theapparatus 100 may be derived from the positions of the UWB transceivers416 and 417, for example by taking a midpoint between the positions foreach of the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 or some other reference pointon the wheeled chassis 102. Additionally, the respective positionsprovided for the spaced apart mounts 162 and 164 provide sufficientseparation between the UWB transceivers 416 and 417 to permitdetermination of an orientation or heading of the apparatus 100 withinthe local coordinate frame 1126 for the positioning information providedby the respective transceivers.

In one embodiment, the real-time location and orientation provided bythe positioning system may be used for steering the wheeled chassisalong a path 1224 between the pickup location 1104 and drop-off location1106. Additionally, the LIDAR proximity sensor 154 may simultaneouslyreceive proximity signals indicative of obstacles in the path of thewheeled chassis 102. The microprocessor 400 may use the receivedproximity signals from the LIDAR proximity sensor 154 and the positionalinformation provided by the positioning system to modify the path 1224of the wheeled chassis to avoid detected obstacles.

When the wheeled chassis 102 is within a pre-determined range of thepickup location 1104, the proximity signals received from the proximitysensor 154 may be processed by the microprocessor 400 to determinewhether obstacles in the path of the wheeled chassis 102 correspond toany of the plurality of articles 1110 to be transported, and in responsecausing the wheeled chassis to steer towards one of the articles in theplurality of articles. In general, LIDAR and/or other proximity signalsprovided by the proximity sensor 154 may be used in combination withdata provided by the UWB transceivers 416, 417 on the apparatus 100 andthe UWB transceivers on each beacon 1108, 1112, and 1114 to providedetails of the environment, articles 1110 and 1122, obstacles, and theposition of the apparatus 100 within the area 1100. Based on thisinformation, the apparatus 100 may determine the path 1224 and makenecessary adjustments to the path during movement.

Similarly, when path 1224 of the wheeled chassis 100 is within apre-determined range of the drop-off location 1106, the microprocessor400 may cause the wheeled chassis 102 to steer to a first locationdefined with respect to the second beacon 1112 (and/or the first beacon1112) for unloading a first article at the 1106. Subsequently, foradditional articles in the plurality of articles 1110 the microprocessor400 may cause the wheeled chassis to steer to successive locations (forexample the location 1226) defined with respect to the first and secondbeacons 1112 and 1114 for unloading of subsequent articles in theplurality of articles.

While specific embodiments have been described and illustrated, suchembodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only andnot as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with theaccompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for transporting a plurality ofarticles, the apparatus comprising: a wheeled chassis; a platformdisposed on the wheeled chassis; a manipulator coupled to the wheeledchassis and operably configured to: load a first article of theplurality of articles at a first position on the platform; or unload thefirst article of the plurality of articles from the first position onthe platform; and at least one actuator operably configured to causesuccessive relative rotational movements between the manipulator and theplatform to provide access to successive rotationally spaced apartpositions on the platform for loading or unloading each subsequentarticle in the plurality of articles.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1wherein the at least one actuator is operably configured to cause one ofa rotary movement of the platform about the wheeled chassis and a rotarymovement of the manipulator about the wheeled chassis.
 3. The apparatusof claim 1 wherein the manipulator is coupled to base rotatable withrespect to the wheeled chassis and wherein the at least one actuatorcomprises: a base actuator operably configured to cause rotary movementof the base and the manipulator about the wheeled chassis; a platformactuator operably configured to cause rotary movement of the platformabout the wheeled chassis; and wherein the base actuator and theplatform actuator are operable to cause successive relative rotationalmovements of both the manipulator and the platform about the wheeledchassis for providing access for loading or unloading each subsequentarticle in the plurality of articles.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3wherein the manipulator is coupled to the wheeled chassis via a supportand wherein the base actuator is operably configured to cause rotarymovement of the support about the wheeled chassis.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 3 wherein the wheeled chassis comprises at least one drive fordriving wheels of the wheeled chassis and further comprising acontroller operably configured to: cause the at least one drive toorient the wheeled chassis for movement in a direction aligned to pickup or place the plurality of articles in a line; cause the base actuatorto cause rotary movement of the manipulator about the wheeled chassis toorient the manipulator for loading or unloading the plurality ofarticles; and cause the platform actuator to cause rotary movement ofthe platform to: after loading each article, dispose an empty locationon the platform in reach of the manipulator for loading a subsequentarticle; or dispose a subsequent article on the platform in reach of themanipulator for unloading.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein thewheeled chassis comprises a drive for driving at least one wheel of thewheeled chassis and further comprising a controller operably configuredto control the drive to orient the wheeled chassis to align themanipulator for loading or unloading each of the first article and thesubsequent articles.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the manipulatorcomprises: a pair of outwardly directed spaced apart arms operablyconfigured to grasp the article; an arm actuator, operably configured tovertically rotate the arms toward the platform while the article issuspended between the arms; and an end effector distally disposed oneach respective arm and wherein the end effectors are operablyconfigured to grasp the article and suspend the article during verticalmovement of the arms.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the arms aremounted for vertical rotation on a driven shaft and wherein the endeffectors are coupled to the shaft via a belt such that rotation of thearms causes a respective rotation of the end effectors for maintainingan orientation of the end effectors while grasping the article.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein the pair of outwardly directed spaced apartarms are mounted for one of lateral movement and rotational movementabout a pivot to cause the pair of end effectors to move to grasp orrelease the article.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising atleast one tool operably configured to perform an operation on thearticles while transporting the plurality of articles on the wheeledchassis.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the at least one tool iscoupled to the manipulator such that causing rotary movement between themanipulator and the platform provides access to each article forperforming the operation.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein themanipulator and the at least one tool are respectively coupled to acommon base mounted for rotation on the wheeled chassis such that rotarymovement of the common base causes rotary movement of each of themanipulator and the at least one tool.
 13. The apparatus of claim 10wherein the at least one tool is coupled to the wheeled chassis suchthat causing rotary movement between the wheeled chassis and theplatform provides access to each article for performing the operation.14. A method of transporting a plurality of articles on a wheeledchassis, the method comprising: causing a manipulator coupled to thewheeled chassis to: load a first article of the plurality of articles ata first position on a platform disposed on the wheeled chassis; orunload the first article of the plurality of articles from the firstposition on the platform; and causing successive relative rotationalmovements between the manipulator and the platform to provide access tosuccessive rotationally spaced apart positions on the platform; andcausing the manipulator to load or unload each subsequent article of theplurality of articles to or from the successive rotationally spacedapart positions on the platform.
 15. The method of claim 14 whereincausing successive relative rotational movements comprises one ofcausing rotary movement of the platform about the wheeled chassis andcausing rotary movement of the manipulator about the wheeled chassis.16. The method of claim 15 wherein causing successive relativerotational movements comprises causing rotary movement of both themanipulator and the platform about the wheeled chassis.
 17. The methodof claim 16 wherein causing rotary movement of both the manipulator andthe platform about the wheeled chassis comprises: causing the wheeledchassis to be aligned for movement in a direction aligned to pick up orplace the plurality of articles along a line; causing rotary movement ofthe manipulator to orient the manipulator for loading or unloading theplurality of articles; and causing rotary movement of the platform to:after loading each article, dispose an empty location on the platform inreach of the manipulator for loading a subsequent article; or dispose asubsequent article on the platform in reach of the manipulator forunloading.
 18. The method of claim 14 further comprising controlling adrive associated with at least one wheel of the wheeled chassis toorient the wheeled chassis to align the manipulator for loading each ofthe first article and the subsequent articles.
 19. The method of claim16 further comprising operating at least one tool to perform anoperation on the articles while transporting the plurality of articleson the wheeled chassis.
 20. The method of claim 19 wherein operating theat least one tool comprises causing rotational movement between the atleast one tool and the platform to provide access to each article forperforming the operation.
 21. The method of claim 20 wherein causingrotational movement between the at least one tool and the platformcomprises causing rotational movement of the manipulator, the at leastone tool being coupled to the manipulator.
 22. A method for transportinga plurality of articles between a pickup location and an intendeddrop-off location on a wheeled chassis having a pair of transceiversdisposed in spaced apart relation on the wheeled chassis, the methodcomprising: positioning a pickup beacon proximate the plurality ofarticles at the pickup location; positioning a left drop-off beacon anda right drop-off beacon on either side of the intended drop-offlocation, the left and right drop-off beacons indicating a desiredalignment of the plurality of articles at the respective location;receiving location signals at transceivers disposed on each of thebeacons and at the pair of transceivers on the wheeled chassis;processing the location signals to determine a location and orientationof the wheeled chassis with respect to the beacons; navigating thewheeled chassis using the determined location and orientation of thewheeled chassis to: pick up successive articles of the plurality ofarticles proximate the pickup location; move between the pickup locationand the drop-off location; and place articles proximate the drop-offlocation.
 23. The method of claim 22 wherein receiving location signalscomprises: transmitting ultra-wideband (UWB) signals at the transceiversdisposed on each of the beacons and at the pair of transceivers on thewheeled chassis; and receiving the UWB signals at the other transceiversdisposed on each of the beacons and at the pair of transceivers on thewheeled chassis.
 24. The method of claim 22 wherein navigatingcomprises: using the location signals to determine a real-time locationand orientation for steering the wheeled chassis along a path betweenthe pickup location and drop-off location; receiving proximity signalsindicative of obstacles in the path of the wheeled chassis; and usingthe received proximity signals and location signals to modify the pathof the wheeled chassis to avoid detected obstacles.
 25. The method ofclaim 24 wherein receiving the proximity signals comprises generatingproximity signals using at least one of an optical sensor, an infraredsensor, light detection and ranging (LIDAR) sensor, and an ultrasonicsensor.
 26. The method of claim 24 wherein receiving the proximitysignals comprises receiving: a first proximity signal from an infraredsensor operably configured to indicate close range obstacles; and asecond proximity signal from a light detection and ranging (LIDAR)sensor indicating mid and far range obstacles.
 27. The method of claim24 further comprising, when the path of the wheeled chassis is within apre-determined range of the pickup location, processing the receivedproximity signals to determine whether obstacles in the path of thewheeled chassis correspond to any of the plurality of articles to betransported, and in response causing the wheeled chassis to steertowards one of the articles in the plurality of articles.
 28. The methodof claim 24 further comprising, when path of the wheeled chassis iswithin a pre-determined range of the drop-off location, causing thewheeled chassis to steer to a first location defined with respect to oneof the left drop-off beacon and the right drop-off beacon for unloadingof a first article.
 29. The method of claim 28 further comprisingcausing the wheeled chassis to steer to successive locations definedwith respect to the one of the left drop-off beacon and the rightdrop-off beacon for unloading of a second article and subsequentarticles in the plurality of articles.
 30. A system for transporting aplurality of articles between a pickup location and an intended drop-offlocation, the system comprising: a wheeled chassis having a pair oftransceivers disposed in spaced apart relation on the wheeled chassis; apickup beacon positioned proximate the plurality of articles at thepickup location; a left drop-off beacon and a right drop-off beaconpositioned on either side of the intended drop-off location, the leftand right drop-off beacons indicating a desired alignment of theplurality of articles at the respective location, each beacon includinga transceiver; and wherein the transceivers on the beacons and the pairof transceivers on the wheeled chassis are operably configured toreceive location signals and process the location signals to determine alocation and orientation of the wheeled chassis with respect to thebeacons for navigating the wheeled chassis to pick up articles in theplurality of articles proximate the pickup location, to move between thepickup location and the drop-off location, and to place articles in theplurality of articles proximate the drop-off location.
 31. The system ofclaim 30 wherein the transceivers disposed on each beacon and the pairof transceivers on the wheeled chassis comprise ultra-wideband (UWB)transceivers.
 32. The system of claim 30 further comprising at least oneproximity sensor disposed on the wheeled chassis, the proximity sensorbeing operable to provide an indication of obstacles in the path of thewheeled chassis.